Adrift

A la Dérive de Heitor Dhalia

By Patricia Connell
16/11/2010

Did you know that Vincent Cassel was fluent in Portuguese? Well, he is!

Not only is he fluent but he is also very convincing when he speaks it and believe you me, nothing is lost ‘in translation’!

Selected in Cannes for Un Certain Regard last year, Adrift  is set in the 1980s, and centres around a 14-year-old girl who struggles with her life when she learns of the infidelities of her father (Vincent Cassel) while undergoing her own sexual awakening.

Adrift

Vincent Cassel, a successful French writer is very poignant as the father of his beautiful teenage girl (Laura Neiva). However, his hidden infidelity with Ângela (Camilla Belle) obsesses his daughter Filipa in this delicate coming-of-age tale.

Laura Neiva plays Filipa with a mix of clever manipulation and obvious vulnerability.

Set in a Brazilian beach resort, Heitor Dhalia’s sensitive mood piece could have made a very predictable film but the opposite is true. Yes, there are teenagers falling in love on the beach all in their skimpy bikinis. Yess, there are adults having affaires left right and centre but what makes it different and interesting is that what you anticipate at every turn does not happen the way you thought it would.

Heitor Dhalia is most definitely a young director to watch.

A must see for parents with teenagers.